Reviews by User: CaliAtHeart (20)

Since this is a women's watch, I should mention that this is not a dainty watch at all. The face of the watch is ~1 + 1/8" in diameter, the height of the watch (when you place it face up on a table) is ~1/2". The leather straps themselves are about 1/16" think -- the thickest I've seen for a watch. The watch is also somewhat heavy. However, that being said, it does have a very feminine and yet sturdy look to it. The hour and minute hands glow in the dark. The sheath behind the watch doesn't slide off by itself because the metal clip at the end of the leather strap is too large -- you'll either need tools or a watch-smith to take it off for you. Note that since this looks like an older version (the Oakley website no longer sells these colors), the watch battery may either be dead or dying by the time you get it. Overall this is a beautiful and sturdy watch.

My first review did not do this watch justice. I've had this thing for a few months now and I've got to say this is the most awesome watch I've ever owned. It's also the first watch I'd consider as a piece of jewelry / a work of art, which I was NOT expecting from backcountry of all places. It's feminine, yet very sturdy. Beautiful, but not dainty. Unlike my other watches, this one is actually blatantly visible quite a couple of feet away from the mirror. Also, just for kicks, I took a key and purposefully tried to scratch the sapphire top -- the thing wouldn't scratch up. (The stainless steel does scratch a bit, however, like most other watches.) I took the leather backing off -- a watch/jewelry repair shop should be able to do it. The green is a soft light apple green -- goes with just about every article of clothing I own. All in all this was one of my best purchases.

The sweater isn't quite what I thought it would be. I am 5'4" and 135lbs -- I ordered a medium and it was a big. The amethyst color isn't the light purple I saw on my screen -- it's more of a deeper, yellower purple. Also, the sweater started pilling right out of the box. My washing machine is a top-load and not a side-load, so I'm worried about it pilling and stretching out of control. The yarn is also somewhat prickly and coarse -- not fine and fluffy like I'd imagined. All of this being said, it is *extremely* warm.

I'm 5'4" 135 lbs w/ a 39" hip, got the Lily Pant in Med and it fits great. The pant is a slim fit through hip and thigh with a boot-cut leg opening, so it hugs the butt and thighs like tights but the boot-cut makes it look awesome. Wide elastic waist band also helps hold in the tummy. Heavy 320 weight. For me the length is a bit long but I just let it hit my shoes. A note about the fit: the underwear in size med. is kinda big for me, but the Lily Pant is skin-tight in the hips. Would be a 5-star rating if the pant sizing was closer to the underwear sizing (i.e. a wee-bit larger).

It's April in Southern California right now, so it's waaay too warm to wear this jacket. I'll let the other reviewers comment about the functionality. I'm mainly writing about the Surf-Blue color. The color is really more of a powder blue than the silver blue shown on backcountry.com. Consequently, it's not as see-through as some of the reviews might imply. If you hold the jacket (unzipped) to the light you can see the feathers. My jacket did not have that many dark feathers, and so I did not run into the dark-feathers-showing-through-the-jacket problem. The fabric has a sheen to it, so it's really quite pretty. Aside from the color, the jacket is 800 fill down so it's SUPER light. If you like powder blue, I'd recommend trying the Surf-Blue colored jacket.

The shirt seems a little on the small side -- the sleeves are tighter than the sleeves from the icebreaker superfine 140 henley (also 3/4 length). The fabric is very soft and silky, which I think is an improvement from last year's (2008) 140 fabric. The flower print is actually quite visible, which I was not expecting. The V-neck is very deep, and the belize blue is amazingly bright. As of today 4/17/2009 a (very small) photo of this shirt on a model is on the icebreaker.com homepage lower right-hand corner, where the color is more accurate. For me this will be a beautiful casual summer shirt.

I love icebreaker items ... but their manufacturing really needs to be more consistent. The Amazon scoop T is different from the Tech Ts in three ways: (1) wide hem at neck, (2) longer cut, (3) butterfly print. Out of the two of these I purchased, one had the wide hem at neck, one didn't. The fabric is soft and gorgeous (I personally think they improved the superfine 140 fabric -- to me it's softer/silkier now), but I really wanted the wide neck hem, so the shirt that didn't have it will be going back. Also, in response to another reviewer, the long shirts (of heavier fabric weights) are usually part of the bodyfit series, so they're more body hugging. This T, as well as the Tech Ts, are part of the regular fit series, so they're a bit looser.

Very beautiful skirt. I'm really picky about skirts -- most skirts look ... wrong to me, somehow. This one though is really something else. I bought the white. The seams and panels were designed such that the skirt flows when you walk. Reminded me of white daisy petals for some reason. Very feminine and cute. Fabric is light and airy. The white is not see-through (has outer layer and inner lining layer), although I haven't tried with bright/dark colored undies. Am considering buying a second one. The skirt sits on the hips. Sizing chart is pretty accurate. Backcountry says the white is "white/green tea" but the seams aren't green. The entire skirt is white.

I love these shades. I never thought I'd pay so much for sunglasses, but I couldn't take these off my face. The lenses are smaller than every other Oakley women street-style shades except for the Disobey (as of summer 2008), so I didn't have the way-too-big-lens problem. I have the Polished Black/Grey pair and I personally think these sunglasses have a combination of a rich b*tch and bad ass look. Being Oakleys, the lenses are really clear and have safety-lens ratings. I'd definitely recommend at least trying these on a local mall if you can.

This is definitely a casual pant, just not what I expected. The label says it's 190 weight superfine. The fit is rather loose -- not quite like in the picture -- I have a 39" hip and ordered a M, the the hip and legs are very wide. The look is similar to a wide-leg work pant, so I thought maybe I could wear it to work, but there's a strip down the side of each leg that isn't seamed, which definitely dresses the pant down. The waistband is not as wide as in the icebreaker lily pant, and the weird thing is the width set aside for what should have been the elastic is much wider than the elastic itself. Also, the pockets weren't particularly deep -- I guess deep is relative. The material is very comfortable, as expected for any icebreaker superfine 190-weight garment (I'm a huge fan of other icebreaker items). Maybe I'll try a small instead?

I'm a big fan of the icebreaker 190-weight shirts. I think icebreaker really shines when it's hot and you sweat in it -- the material is much more breathable than cotton. To address the fit, I'm 5'4" 135 lbs and a small fit well. This shirt is not part of the body-fit series -- it doesn't hug your body like tights. I usually wear this as a casual tee, but I can also wear it exercising and yes I do wear it to work. The salsa color is a brilliant red -- sometimes the backcountry.com pictures makes it look orange, but it's red.

This is one of my favorite icebreaker pieces. I live in southern California where the winter nights are freezing (it's a desert) and we don't have heat in the house. This shirt is thick, soft, and warm. I get cold easily so I wear this over an icebreaker cami and under a fleece sweater/jacket. Don't need more layers, this was enough to keep me warm. The first icebreaker piece I bought was a 140 weight, which was too thin and somewhat scratchy, to my disappointment. But this piece feels SO GOOD. Definitely recommend.

This top is ridiculously soft and warm. I wear a Medium in just about everything I own but I'm only an A cup. I ordered a small and the fit was fine -- snug and body hugging, good for a base layer -- and did I mention ridiculously warm? However, what's up with the arm seams? There are several unnecessary (IMHO) seams along the arms. The seams are chunky underneath the shirt and rubbed against my skin. I actually had to return this shirt because of the arm seams. Will be looking for another Icebreaker Body Fit 260 item instead.

I was very skeptical of these at first, but after I wore them I loved them! I have a 39" hip and the size 8 was a perfect fit -- tight but flattering tight, not the she's-in-denial-she-needs-a-larger-size tight. They really do stretch! I can do splits in these! I'm 5'4" and the regular was a little too long -- as the pants weigh down over the course of a day the pant legs hit the floor. The rise looks low on the photos but it's not scary low -- maybe one to two fingers below the navel, depending on how high you pull them. If only they had more -- I'd buy one in every color.

These flips are super comfortable. Took a while to break into them though, but man is the leather soooooo soft. A word about the fit: the Chaco flip would probably work best for someone with narrow feet. My feet are between narrow and wide -- if they were any wider they'd "overflow" off the flips. Also, there's a weird rebound feeling when I walk in these -- there isn't a whole lot of cushion and I feel an odd recoil in my knees and hips every time I take a step. But, I love the way they feel on the foot. I'm a size 8 in everything and a size 8 in this fits perfectly.

The size 8 felt a lot more like a size 6. The fabric was pretty light weight. The inseam was just long enough to be decent but short enough to reveal some legs. Would have kept it if the size was correct. For reference, I'm 5'4" and 135 lbs.

I liked the design of this shirt, but it does run large. Size yourself according to the sizing chart -- I'm a medium in almost everything I have but I definitely should be a small for Icebreaker. I also bought another Icebreaker cami in medium -- this one was larger than that one. The shirt itself was adequately thick, and with the shelf bra you'd have two layers of merino wool over your bust area. Overall I would have kept it if it actually fit.

I thought the shirt looked cute online, so I ordered it. But after trying it on, all I can say is I do not understand this shirt. It has a second layer over the bust area, but it's not a shelf bra, so what is its function? Also, size yourself according to the sizing chart -- I'm a medium in just about every shirt I own but a medium in this was too big....I'm 5'4" and 135 lbs.

The Nina tank has a disappointingly unflattering cut for me. Somehow, and I don't normally say this, but it really does make me look fat. The white is also plenty see through. That said, the Vaporwick works pretty well -- I wore this on a muggy day and it was SO much better than cotton.

This seems to be a flip flop for those with narrow, bony, problematic feet. The good parts: the leather was sooooo very soft and comfortable. The bad parts. First, the pair I got was asymmetric between the right and left feet, such that the left flip was fine but the right flip was too tight. (Apparently I have meaty feet. But I'm a normal sized person....) Second, the flip was not wide enough, so that my foot seemed to spill over the sides a bit. Third, the arch support was a bit too aggressive for me -- a short walk sent pains through my legs. I can see how the arch support would help if you have collapsed arches or other arch-related foot problems, but for those without these problems this feature may backfire. Fourth: the toe separator seemed to be a few millimeters too far back, such that my heel would look like it's sliding off. You may want to consider ordering a size up.